Supporting and loading arm for drawing mechanism of a spinning machine



March 28, 1967 F. STAHLECKER ETAL 3,31%,4 SUPPORTING AND LOADING ARM FOR DRAWING MECHANISM OF A SPINNING MACHINE Filed Sept. 24, 1964 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Mal-Ch 28, 1967 F. STAHLECKER ETAL 3,310,848 SUPPORTING AND LOADING ARM FOR DRAWING MECHANISM OF A SPINNING MACHINE Filed Sept. 24, 1964 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTORS /Q/rz ST/PHAIECKER BY IMM o 'TGMMLfi/Q United States Patent 3,310,848 SUPPORTING AND LflADING ARM FOR DRAW- ING MECHANISM @F A SPINNING MAQHINE Fritz Stahlecker, Bad Uberkingen, and igmnnd Kemmler, Geislingen, Germany, assignors to Spindelfabrik Sussen, Schurr, Stahleclrer & Grill G.m.b.I-l'., Sussen, Germany Filed Sept. 24, 1964, Ser. No. 398,847 7 Claims. (Cl. 19-267) The invention relates in general to supporting and loading arms for the drawing mechanism of spinning machines of the type which are rotatable vertically about a support shaft to provide for disengagement of the twin pressure rolls carried by the arm; and relates more particularly to a locking and relieving lever adjustably arranged on said supporting and loading arm in cooperation with a locking latch provided on a clamping member fastened to the support shaft for locking said loading arm in operative position on said shaft.

In connecting with drawing mechanisms having loading arms which may be swung upwardly about a support shaft, it is known to provide a locking device on the side of the drawing mechanism on which the support shaft is arranged in order to hold the loading arm in the operating position. The locking device may thereby be arranged near the support shaft, or special clamping members or supports may be arranged on the support shaft which absorb the reaction pressures of the loading means which, in most cases, are created by the loading springs. It is further known to provide the clamping members with lugs fastened to the support shaft as an integral part of the clamping member which are overlapped by a locking member. With such arrangements, the clamping member must be very carefully adjusted during assembly so that in the clamped position -all loading arms will be inclined equally in relation to a reference plane, because otherwise the loading pressure will not be the same at all spindles.

In order to correct for the above-mentioned problems relating to inclination of the loading arm it has also already been suggested to provide special adjusting means for the drawing mechanism to correct the inclination of the loading arm while the machine is running; however, this change of inclination of the loading arm requires a shifting of the upper rollers in opposition to the direction of the passing thread or fiber. Also, after adjustment of the inclination of the loading arm is completed, the shifting of the upper rollers requires, in some cases, an after correction of the distance between the rollers, that is, the position of the upper rollers in relation to the lower rollers.

These shortcomings of the known devices may be avoided when, in accordance with the invention, the locking lug is rotatably arranged on an adjusting lever rotatably mounted on the clamping member. In this way rotation of the adjusting lever produces a change in the position of the locking lug in relation to the support shaft and thereby to the base of the drawing mechanism. The rotation and the fixation of the position of the adjusting lever is brought about by adjusting means which brace against a stationary member of the machine. Adjusting keys, eccentrics, bolts or screws can serve as adjusting means for such a purpose. For a preferred embodiment, a screw is provided to serve as an adjusting means which is arranged in a threaded hole in the adjusting arm and braces itself against the support shaft.

If the clamping member is form-lockingly connected to the support shaft at special surfaces formed in the otherwise circular support shaft, for example, a fiat surface, it is advantageous to arrange this surface in such a manner that the adjusting means for the adjusting lever may also brace itself against this surface. In order to avoid undue wear at the special surfaces, it may also be advantageous to insert a pressure plate of hardened material between the adjusting means and the support shaft.

In order to avoid undue changes in the position of the loading arm or of locking members and to avoid undue stresses on such members, it is advantageous to limit the range of movement of the adjusting lever in accordance with the invention by means of stops which may be arranged on the adjusting lever, on the adjusting means, at the clamping member or on other stationary parts. An especially advantageous and very simple limitation of the range of movement is obtained when the inner front surfaces of the adjusting lever are formed as stop faces which butt against the support shaft.

Furthermore, it is advantageous for the attainment of uniform engagement conditions of all adjusting levers and in cases with clamping members which consist of flat steel bent to form a U-shape, to arrange the adjusting lever rotatably about a bolt between both legs of the clamping member so that its axis of rotation is disposed in or about the plane passing through the axis of rotation is disposed in or about the plane passing through the axis of the support shaft and through the axis of the locking member in its operating position and which has the form of a roller. When such a position of the pivot bolt for the adjusting lever is selected in further development of the invention, the flat surfaces at the rear side of the locking lug of the adjusting lever may be shaped in such a manner that when the loading lever is rotated into a non-operating position, the locking lever of the locking means arranged on the loading lever is pressed positively against these surfaces so that the position of the loading arm and the locking lever is fixed.

The advantages described may be created in a simple and reliable manner by giving the adjusting lever and its lug a special form. In accordance with this special form, the adjusting lever is made of structural steel with finished outer profile. It is also advantageous to harden the adjusting member either in its entirety or at its lug and at its stop surfaces for limiting the range of rotation.

The spatial arrangement of the inventively formed clamping member, adjusting lever and locking means make diilicult the utilization of known devices for locking or holding the loading arm after it has been swung into the non-operating position. However, an advantageous embodiment of such a device is inventively obtained through use of a leaf spring held at one end thereof by the fastening screw for the clamping member in engagement with the adjusting means and at its other end presses a bolt arranged on the loading arm, with the loading arm in a non-operating position, against a support surface of the clamping member.

In order to attain the necessary force with the leaf spring and also spring deflection for locking the loading arm without having to select a complicated spring form or relatively very thick spring, it is advantageous to freely support the leaf spring at both sides thereof in about its middle section and to provide it with a cut out through which the tool for adjusting the adjusting means may be inserted.

It is a primary object of the instant invention to' provide a locking mechanism for the loading arm of a drawin-g mechanism which generally avoids or substantially eliminates the problems associated with presently known devices of a similar type.

It is another object of the instant invention to provide a locking mechanism for the loading arm of adrawing mechanism which includes an adjusting lever having a locking lug Whose reference position may be altered to control the inclination of the loading arm in the operative position.

It is a further object of the instant invention to provide a locking mechanism for the loading arm of a drawing mechanism including an adjusting means cooperating with a reference surface on the support shaft of said loading arm.

It is still another object of the instant invention to provide a locking mechanism for the locking mechanism for the loading arm of a drawing mechanism including an adjusting means therefor capable of controlling the inclination of the loading arm in the operative position without altering the spacing between the upper rollers and lower rollers of the spinning machine.

It is still a further object of the instant invention to provide a locking mechanism for the loading arm of a drawing mechanism whose inclination in the operative position is easily controlled while also including means for holding or locking said arm in the inoperative position.

It is another object of the instant invention to provide a locking mechanism for the loading arm of a drawing mechanism which may consist of simple parts in an uncomplicated combination providing for simplicity in manufacture and reliability in use while avoiding difficulties inherent in known devices of a similar type.

These and other objects and advantages of the instant invention will be more clearly understood when taken with the following specification and claims which describe one embodiment of the invention as illustrated in detail in the drawings wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a longitudinal cross section through the rear portion of the loading arm in the operative position together with a locking device in accordance with the instant invention;

FIGURE 2 shows a cross section through the device in FIGURE 1 along line IIII;

FIGURE 3 shows the cross section through the device according to FIGURE 1 along line III-III;

FIGURE 4 shows a top plane view of the clamping member in the adjusting lever illustrated in FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 5 shows the tension spring assembled as shown in FIGURE 1 and viewed in the direction of arrow IV;

FIGURE 6 shows a longitudinal cross section through the rear portion of the loading arm shifted to non-operating position together with locking device according to FIGURE 1; and

FIGURE 7 shows a complete view of a loading arm together with locking device, upper rollers and lower rollers in an operating position.

In FIGURE 1, a loading arm 2 is rotatably mounted on a stationary support shaft 1 secured to the base (not shown) of the drawing mechanism. A locking lever 4 is rotatably mounted on a bolt 3 provided in the loading arm; while a locking bolt 5 attached to the locking lever 4 carries a locking roller 6, used as a locking member. A U-shaped clamping member 7 is clamped to the support shaft 1 by means of a screw bolt 8 and locking nut 9 and is also operatively connected with the flat support surface 10 provided on the support shaft by pressure plate to prevent rotation of said clamping member.

A rod 11 is inserted into the side surfaces of the U- shaped clamping member, see FIGURE 4, onto which an adjusting lever 12 is rotatably mounted. This adjusting lever12 includes an interlocking lug consisting of a locking recess 13' and a locking projection 13". An adjusting means consisting of an adjusting screw 14 is arranged in a threaded hole in one end of the adjusting lever 12 and braces itself against the flat surface 10 of the support shaft 1.

In the operating position, the loading arm 2, under tension from the loading means for the pressure rollers, braces itself against the lug 13 through roller 6 provided on the locking lever 4, the position of which is determined by the adjusting screw 14. A pressure plate 15 made of spring steel is inserted between the adjusting screw 14 and the support shaft 1 and also serves to prevent rotation of the clamping member 7, as mentioned above. When the adjusting screw 14 in the adjusting lever 12 is screwed inwardly, the adjusting lever 12 moves about rod 11 in a counterclockwise direction producing rotation of the locking lever 4 and bolt 3 together with the loading arm 2 and the known loading and roller guide members attached to the loading arm (shown in FIGURE 1 as screwed-on bracket 27) in a counterclockwise direction also about the support shaft 1. If the adjusting screw 14 is screwed out of the adjusting lever 12, obviously opposite movements are obtained.

Therefore, by adjusting the adjusting screw 14 either inwardly or outwardly, the inclination of the loading arm relative to the plane of the drawing field may be altered so that an accurate position of the loading arm may be fixed corresponding to the operating requirements.

The locking of the loading arm, as shown in FIGURE 1, is provided such that when the locking lever 4 is rotated clockwise around bolt 3 so that the locking bolt 5 slides along the ablong recess '2' provided in the lateral legs 2" of the loading arm 2, the roller 6 travels over the locking surface 13" of the lug 13 slightly rotating the loading arm 2 about the support shaft in a counterclockwise direction. When the roller 6 has overcome the locking projection 13 the loading arm 2 is released and may be freely rotated in an upward direction. During further rotation of the locking lever 4, the loading arm 2 is carried along as soon as the roller 6 contacts the upper end of the oblong recess 2'.

In FIGURE 6, the loading arm 2 is shown in the lifted position, that is, in its uppermost position with the bolt 3 resting on the two front surfaces 7' (FIGURE 4) provided on the legs of the clamping member 7. In this position, the loading arm 2 is supported on surface 13" of the locking lever 4 and held by means of the tension spring 16 which is provided at its free end with a bent-up position 16" which makes possible the engagement of bolt 3 into the illustrated arresting position. The locking lever 4, as soon as it brings the loading arm 2 into the arresting position, attains the position shown in full line FIGURE 6. The loading arm may again be moved downwardly from this position by means of a moderate pressure without operating the locking lever 4 which is maintained in its uppermost position.

If the loading arm 2, however, is to be locked in the lifted position, the locking lever must be rotated for this purpose into a position 4 shown in FIGURE 6 in dotted lines, that is, against the loading arm 2. By this movement, the locking roller 6 is brought into position 6' in which it contacts the projection 13" of the adjusting lever 12. Under this condition, the loading arm 2-is locked, that is, it can again only be rotated into the operating position if at first, the locking lever is moved from its position 4' away from the loading arm 2.

As shown in FIGURES 1 and 6, the tension spring 16, fastened to the bolt 8 of the clamping member 7, is carried around the adjusting means 14 and is provided with a cut out portion 16' through which a tool for adjusting the adjusting means 14 may be inserted. In about the middle, the tension spring 16 rests freely with portion 16" against the lobes 7 and 7 of the clamping member 7 whereby, without great need of material, a spring force is obtained sufiicient to hold the loading arm 2 in position. The pressure plate 15, formed as a spring, is also fastened by means of bolt 8 to the clamp member 7. If the support shaft 1 is made of an entirely circular shaft Without surface 10, the pressure plate 15 may be correspondingly curved. In order to prevent the accidental disengagement of the loading arm and its locking members, a cover plate 17 is provided on the loading arm which is accommodated by projections 18 and 18 in the side surfaces of the loading arm 2 and which may consist of beads or bolt stumps (FIGURES l and 3). This cover plate 17 may consist, as the drawing shows, of spring steel or also of synthetic material and may be easily assembled or disassembled because of its spring clamping arrangement.

As FIGURE 2 shows, surfaces 4" are raised on the locking lever 4 adjacent the openings for bolt 5 so that the spacing between the surfaces 4 is somewhat less than the width of the U-shaped loading arm 2. The slightly elastic bracing of the locking lever 4 in the loading arm 2 obtained thereby, serves to hold the locking lever in a fixed operating position, for example, in position 4 of FIGUR E 6.

The range of travel of the adjusting lever 12 is limited by the stop surfaces 12' and 12" thereon which abut against the support shaft 1. The surface 1-2 limits the swinging movement of the adjusting lever in a counterclockwise direction, while surface 12 limits such movements in a clockwise direction. The stops on the adjusting lever, as shown in FIGURE 1 as specially carved out surfaces 12' and 12", may also change over as gentle curves into the adjoining surfaces, as is shown for the adjusting lever in FIGURE 6 (surfaces 12", 12""). Such a form is especially advantageous when the adjusting lever is made of structural steel with finished outer profile in which case only the bores for the bolt 11 and for the adjusting screw 14 must be provided in the adjusting lever from a standard bar. One or both stops may, under certain circumstances, be abandoned, for example, if the operating personnel is very familiar with such devices.

The adjusting means illustrated in the exemplified embodiments and shown as an adjusting screw 14 without counter nut is guided in the adjusting lever. It may be advantageous to secure the adjusting screw or similar adjusting means after adjustment of the loading arm, by means of counter nuts 14 or the like, as shown in FIG- URE 6.

In FIGURE 7, the assembly of the loading arm including the inventive locking device of a tensioning device is shown in the operating position. The support shaft 1 is arranged in the usual manner behind the drawing mechanism and the locking lever 4 is provided with a gripping lug 19 by which the adjusting lever may be moved upwardly by hand to thereby unload the adjusting arm or in case of need may also be moved upwardly. It is also possible to build the inventive locking arrangement into the loading arm, the support shaft of which is arranged at the exit of the tensioning device. In both arrangements, the exemplified embodiment shown in the figures is applicable and at that, without regard to the inclination of the tensioning device. 'For any inclination it may be advantageous to modify the arrangement in relation to the illustrated exemplified embodiment that even with very much deviation of inclination of the tensioning device, the adjustment may remain accessible.

While we have shown and described several embodiments in accordance with the present invention, it is understood that the same is not limited thereto, but is susceptible of numerous changes and modifications as known to a person skilled in the art, and I therefore do not wish to be limited to the details shown and described herein, but intend to cover all such changes and modifications as are encompassed by the scope of the appended claims.

We claim:

1. A locking mechanism for the loading arm of a drawing mechanism for spinning machines having a support shaft for rotatably mounting said loading arm comprising clamp means fastened to said support shaft, locking lever means swingably arranged to a limited extent on said loading arm and having a locking member supported thereon, and adjusting lever means rotatably mounted on said clamp means including a locking latch means cooperating with said locking member to releasably maintain said loading arm in a selectively adjustable operating position,

said adjusting lever means including position adjusting means biased in relation to said support shaft by said locking member for adjusting the position of said locking lat-ch means in relation to said support shaft,

said position adjusting means including an adjusting screw threaded into said adjusting lever means and biased into contact with said support shaft by said locking member for determining the relative position between said shaft and said adjusting lever means. 2. A locking mechanism for the loading arm of a drawing mechanism for spinning machines having a support shaft for rotatably mounting said loading arm comprising clamp means fastened to said support shaft, locking lever means swingably arranged to a limited extent on said loading arm and having a locking member supported thereon, and adjusting lever means rotatably mounted on said clamp means including a locking latch means cooperating with said locking member to releasably maintain said loading arm in a selectively adjustable operating position,

said adjusting lever means including position adjusting means biased in relation to said support shaft by said locking member for adjusting the position of said locking latch means in relation to said support shaft, said position adjusting means including an adjusting screw threaded into said adjusting lever means and biased into contact with said support shaft by said locking member for determining the relative position bet-ween said shaft and said adjusting lever means,

said support shaft being provided with a flat reference surface against which said adjusting screw is biased, said reference surface also providing a form-locking connection between said clamp means and said shaft. 3. A locking mechanism for the loading arm of a drawing mechanism for spinning machines having a support shaft for rotatably mounting said loading arm comprising clamp means fastened to said support shaft, locking lever means swingably arranged to a limited extent on said loading arm and having a locking member supported thereon, and adjusting lever means rotatably mounted on said clamp means including a locking latch means cooperating with said locking member to releasably maintain said loading arm in a selectively adjustable operating position,

said adjusting lever means including position adjusting means biased in relation to said support shaft by said locking member for adjusting the position of said locking latch means in relation to said support shaft, said position adjusting means including an adjusting screw threaded into said adjusting lever means and biased into contact with said support shaft by said locking member for determining the relative position between said shaft and said adjusting lever means,

said support shaft being provided with a flat reference surface against which said adjusting screw is biased, said reference surface also providing a form-locking connection between said clamp means and said shaft,

pressure plate means arranged between said reference surface on said support shaft and said adjusting screw.

4. A locking mechanism for the loading arm of a drawing mechanism for spinning machines having a support shaft for rotatably mounting said loading arm comprising clamp means fastened to said support shaft, loc'king lever means swingably arranged to a limited extent on said loading arm and having a locking member supported thereon, and adjusting lever means rotatably mounted on said clam-p means including a locking latch means cooperating with said locking member to releasably maintain said loading arm in a selectively adjustable operating position,

said adjusting lever means including position adjusting means biased in relation to said support shaft by said locking member for adjusting the position of said locking latch means in relation to said support shaft,

said position adjusting means including an adjusting screw threaded into said adjusting lever means and biased into contact with said support shaft by said locking member for determining the relative position between said shaft and said adjusting lever means,

lug means for limiting the range of rotation of said adjusting lever means in relation to a stationary member of said machine.

5. A locking mechanism for the loading arm of a drawing mechanism for spinning machines having a support shaft for rotatably mounting said loading arm comprising, locking lever means adjustably supported with reference to said support shaft for releasably maintaining said loading arm in an operating position determined by the position of said locking lever means, and means for adjusting the position of said locking lever means,

said means for adjusting the position of said locking lever means including adjusting lever means supporting said locking lever means in a position determined by the relative position of said adjusting lever means and said support shaft, and means for adjusting the position of said adjusting lever means,

said means for adjusting the position of said adjusting lever means including adjustable screw means bearing against a reference surface on said support shaft. 30

6. A locking mechanism for the loading arm of a drawing mechanism for spinning machines having a support shaft for rotatably mounting said loading arm comprising clamp means fastened to said support shaft, a pivot shaft mounted on said loading arm, locking lever means swingabiy arranged to a limited extent on said pivot shaft on said loading arm and having a locking member supported thereon, and adjusting lever means rotatably mounted on said clamp means including a locking latch means having a first surface cooperating with said locking member to releasably maintain said loading arm in a selectively adjustable operating position, said locking latch means being provided adjacent said first surface with a second surface latching said loading arm in one non-operating position thereof against rotation about said support shaft to said operating position through support of said locking member thereon, spring means fastened at one end to said clamp means and having a free end portion supporting said loading arm by engagement with said pivot shaft in another non-operating position of said loading arm. 7. A locking mechanism as defined in claim 6 wherein said spring means includes an opening providing access to an adjusting screw from outside said locking mechanism.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,508,964 5/1950 Naegeli 19272 2,951,267 9/1960 Noguera 19267 3,150,418 9/1964- Rulon-Miller et al. 19-280 X FOREIGN PATENTS 134,604 5/ 1960 U.S.S,R. 137,795 9/1960 U.S.S.R.

MERVIN STEIN, Primary Examiner.

D. NEWTON, Examiner. 

3. A LOCKING MECHANISM FOR THE LOADING ARM OF A DRAWING MECHANISM FOR SPINNING MACHINES HAVING A SUPPORT SHAFT FOR ROTATABLY MOUNTING SAID LOADING ARM COMPRISING CLAMP MEANS FASTENED TO SAID SUPPORT SHAFT, LOCKING LEVER MEANS SWINGABLY ARRANGED TO A LIMITED EXTENT ON SAID LOADING ARM AND HAVING A LOCKING MEMBER SUPMOUNTED ON SAID CLAMP MEANS INCLUDING A LOCKING LATCH MEANS COOPERATING WITH SAID LOCKING MEMBER TO RELEASABLY MAINTAIN SAID LOADING ARM IN A SELECTIVELY ADJUSTABLE OPERATING POSITION, SAID ADJUSTING LEVER MEANS INCLUDING POSITION ADJUSTING MEANS BIASED IN RELATION TO SAID SUPPORT SHAFT BY SAID LOCKING MEMBER FOR ADJUSTING THE POSITION OF SAID LOCKING LATCH MEANS IN RELATION TO SAID SUPPORT SHAFT, SAID POSITION ADJUSTING MEANS INCLUDING AN ADJUSTING SCREW THREADED INTO SAID ADJUSTING LEVER MEANS AND BIASED INTO CONTACT WITH SAID SUPPORT SHAFT BY SAID LOCKING MEMBER FOR DETERMINING THE RELATIVE POSITION BETWEEN SAID SHAFT AND SAID ADJUSTING LEVER MEANS, 